Doordarshan FreeDish, India’s only free-to-air DTH service that is owned and operated by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, has been focussing on expanding its footprint and subscriber base by employing “proactive measures” aimed at giving adequate representation to South Indian language programming on its platform, the government has said.

“The government has taken various proactive measures to increase the representation of South Indian language channels on DD FreeDish,” Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan submitted in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of parliament) on July 23.

Because FreeDish is free (a subscriber has to make a one-time investment of around Rs. 3,000 in antenna and set-top-box), it’s very popular in remote areas of India and even in low-income areas in some of the bigger cities and metros where people access it for a myriad of entertainment.  Quoting industry data, the Minister said that FreeDish growth has been consistent over the past few years and “reaches approximately 49 million households nationwide as of 2024”. The figure was 33 million in 2018, signifying the positive audience growth.

Replying to queries from fellow parliamentarians, the Minister said various measures have been taken to have better regional representation on FreeDish that include the following:

• Slots had been reserved for South Indian language channels in the e-auctions of DD Free Dish platform in 2025.
• Eligibility norms have been simplified to ensure greater participation from private broadcasters from the southern region of the country.
• Dedicated slots were offered for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam channels in recent auctions.
• Three additional South Indian language private channels — TV9 Telugu, Aastha Kannada and Aastha Telugu — have been onboarded on Free Dish since April 2025.

These initiatives apart, Murugan said that national broadcaster Doordarshan’s own regional channels, such as DD Tamil, DD Saptagiri, DD Chandana, DD Yadagiri and DD Malayalam also air via FreeDish with regular technological upgrades taking place to better promote and enhance visibility.

“Apart from this, there are 27 educational channels on DD FreeDish, which are relaying programs in various South Indian languages,” the Minister asserted, while enlisting the South Indian push, according to an official statement put out by the federal government.

Media Outlets Urged to Register on PB-SHABD Platform: Meanwhile, in an another development,  Prasar Bharati has extended an invitation to all newspapers, periodicals and TV channels across India to register on its newswire platform, Prasar Bharati Shared Audio Visuals for Broadcast and Dissemination (PB-SHABD), to access high-quality news and multimedia content free of cost, a government statement stated.

Launched in March 2024, PB-SHABD offers over 800 news stories daily in multiple Indian languages, covering more than 40 diverse categories. The platform also features live feeds of key national and international events, a rich archive of visual content, and regularly published explanatory and research-based articles.

According to the government statement, all content is made available in usable formats, ensuring ease of access for media organisations and content creators.

In a recent meeting chaired by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju , emphasis was laid on onboarding all credible media organisations to ensure authentic and comprehensible information is widely disseminated.